Don’t Trust “Made in China”? Think Again

The “Made in China” tag ends up being a deterrent for lots of people. Newsflash: Every smartphone you buy is almost certainly made in China. From Apple’s iPhone to the low-cost Moto E, every handset is manufactured there.

But not everyone’s problem is with the actual manufacturing itself. “Chinese electronics” have suffered from the perception of low-quality, cheap products. And while that perception is slowly changing, reality has outpaced opinion. There are plenty of great quality electronics that originate in China, and you’re only missing out if you don’t take them seriously.

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For just one example, take a look at OnePlus. The OnePlus One, OnePlus Two, and the OnePlus X got good reviewsOnePlus X ReviewOnePlus X ReviewHow do you make a single phone that pleases everyone? OnePlus seems to think that you can't. A few months after the OnePlus Two, comes the OnePlus X, a smaller, cheaper device.Read More from everyone. It’s a phone that several tech enthusiasts, influencers, and reviewers recommend wholeheartedly. But it is entirely a Chinese company. You’d be crazy to ignore the OnePlus just because it’s Chinese.

So really, get over the “Made in China” bias. It’s not doing you any favors.

Chinese Phones Aren’t Cheap Knockoffs

The other big point raised against Chinese phones is that they’re cheap knockoffs. A large part of this is because of the Apple vs. Samsung battle, but again, some of it is historical. Initially in the Android race, Chinese smartphone makers did shamelessly copy and lift popular designs. Even today, several parties are guilty of that. But to write off all Chinese phone makers because of that is completely unfair.

For example, the Oppo N1, launched in 2013, featured the world’s first rotating camera on a smartphone. It was an engineering feat, designed for those who love to take selfies. The new Gionee Marathon M5 packs two batteries into a single phone without making it too bulky for incredible battery life. Chinese phone makers are constantly innovating now, even though Xiaomi’s CEO says “wow” moments won’t happen for five years.

What to Look For in a Chinese Phone

If you’re ready to take the plunge and buy a Chinese phone, it’s not as simple as just logging on to Amazon and picking up the first one you see. There are still a few things you should consider so that you get a great phone.

Be brand conscious: Every Chinese phone isn’t the same. Much like a Samsung is different from an LG, a Meizu is different from a ZTE. You need to pay attention to the brands. Some of the more well-known brands are Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Gionee, Meizu, LeTV, and OnePlus.

Research, research, research: I can’t say this strongly enough. Buying a Chinese phone isn’t as simple as walking into a Best Buy and picking up a Moto X. Read whatever reviews you can about a phone, preferably from reviewers who live in the same country as you.

Check if it supports your country: This is the most important part of buying Chinese phones. If you’re in the US, AndroidPit’s roundup or PhoneArena’s list of Chinese phones is a good place to start. But no matter what, I’d recommend checking out Will My Phone Work (pictured above) to be doubly sure about the Chinese phone working on your local carrier.

Buy and pay from reliable ecommerce: Don’t just go to some random website and buy your phone. Much like you would stick to Amazon over a smaller, unknown e-retailer in the US, you need to adopt the same practices while shopping from China. Ideally, buy from the company itself, like Mi.com for Xiaomi phones. You can also try AliExpress.com, which is similar to eBay. But similarly, adopt the best practices to avoid eBay scams10 eBay Scams to Be Aware Of10 eBay Scams to Be Aware OfBeing scammed sucks, especially on eBay. You invest so much time into selling a product or researching the perfect item, complete the transaction, and then… nothing. Do you know when you’re being scammed?Read More and always use PayPal for transactions.

Have You Bought a Chinese Phone?

Have you bought an Android phone in the past year from one of the well-known Chinese manufacturers like Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi, Meizu, or OnePlus? What has your experience been like? Would you recommend Chinese phones to others? Let us know in the comments!

No I haven't bought a Chinese Phone. I am intreagued considering cheapness etc., BUT will they get the Android Updates FASTER. And also my cousin got a CHinese Phone but the Instructions or whatever are in CHINESE. hehehe

Back on my Global warranty hobby horse again and it seems NO phone manufacturer offers a global warranty. In fact they seem to make it difficult to contemplate such a device as a tool to keep you in touch and communicate with on your travels. There is an opportunity here :)

I Bought Huawei in Qatar (Costs QR 450), I have experienced an issue in the Huawei phone (don't remember the model number)
that always screen is zoom out, for example, if some one send a message in whatsapp, the message not displaying properly, some of the text went out of screen.
I have checked all the settings I didn't find the solutions.
(sorry for my English)

I live in Australia and don't suffer from the anti China syndrome that a lot of Americans do. I am on my second Huawei and I am extremely happy with the performance and durability.......and the price. I will certainly consider buying a Chinese phone when I buy any phone in the future

Really should we buy chinese phones? Have you ever heard of MediaTek? Blu and other Chinese brands (whom uses the Chinese MediaTek Chipsets in their devices) only releases upgrades for some of their android devices while the rest remain the same old... And for those who are willing to make thier own custom version of the newer OS that their manufacturer doesn't care to release, are hindered from doing so because the cheap company called MediaTek won't release their sources unlike all the other companies who make mobile chipsets. After years of pleading to get theses sources and signing partitions to do so MediaTek decides to sell the sources instead for only few of the chipsets. Only those willing to pay for something that is supposed to be given as normal get it. Is it worth it in the end because MediaTek chipsets are crap compared to others. So should you really buy theses cheap Chinese phones which is going to most likely have MediaTek chipsets?

Although chinese smartphones are cheap yet innovative, following are certain points to consider -

1.
Aftersale service especially service centre availability should be considered. Many of new companies coming in India such as Meizu, Quiku etc. don't have proper service centre coverage. Even established one like OnePlusOne face scarcity of duplicate parts. You can see it from their user forums.

2.
I do not want to point to certain company. But many users have commented on e-commerce sites that sometimes smartphone units shipped after certain timeframe (such as after end of invite only sale or in open sale) have sub-standard sub-standard components or similar components of different specs. (E.g. some Users reported on Flipkart that units sold of Xiomi Mi4i in open sale has Samsung Camera Module rather than Sony Module as described in the original specifications.When I checked last, around 20% users have rated that smartphone below 3 stars on that site.)

I bought a Doogee Voyager phone from China and have been completely happy with it. It is a well 'specced' phone, works in my own country, has dual sim cards, 5.5 inch screen, good battery life and all for USD86.50. As someone said of Apple & Samsung - they are all made in China anyway, it's just the name on the front.

"For example, the Oppo N1, launched in 2013, featured the world’s first rotating camera on a smartphone." This may be so for the smartphones but Casio had this system available on their Cassiopeia pdas some 20 years ago. And there were 2 adapted models - 1 in Hong Kong and 1 in Germany - that converted these pdas inro gsm phones.

I bought a Xiomi Redmi 2 Prime some 3 months ago for $ 100/- Believe me I simply love it. There are no nagging reminders to update unused application. Their built in browser is far better then Google Chrome. There are a number of apps that run very easily which on other brands would require rooting the device. It is phenomenally fast. Battery life is excellent. It is half the price of anything that Samsung or LG offers for similar performance and features.

The article says check for a global warranty but you should do so for even the biggest of brands
Look at this message sent to me from Sony a global player right?
"According to the process of Sony Thai Service Center, all of oversea device will be considered as an out of warranty device. We can only accept warranty for devices which is sold country in Thailand."
Even worse they wouldn't even accept it for a paid repair.
Check any purchase not just Chinese phones.

I am not surprised. Recently my nephew had corrupted OS problems with his US purchased ASUS router that was simply not sold in India. I contacted the Indian service centre and their response was identical. They DO NOT undertake repair of out of warranty devices. Even if it was officially imported through proper Asus channel.

In my opinion any and all devices that are portable and are expected to be used overseas must cover international warranty. There are 2 companies that do and have first hand experience of, Casio and IBM.

"A large part of this is because of the Apple vs. Samsung battle.." Right. An American company sues a South Korean company over stealing its "designs," and Chinese companies get blamed...because Americans (and Europeans?) are stupid, and can't tell China from Korea?

I bought a Lenovo K3 Note recently. On the whole I'm happy with it, mainly because I could never have afforded a "traditional" smartphone with the features the K3 has. It is only because I need those features that I have now bought a smartphone.

However, I disagree with this... "That’s not to say that you shouldn’t be alert, but that using a Chinese phone doesn’t seem to be any more dangerous than using a phone from any other country." for one simple reason; there are too many Chinese characters on the phone that aren't translated.

For example, for the first few days, the phone was dialling back to China, as shown in the call logs. I had to put a call-blocker app on to stop that. I also don't feel happy putting something like LastPass on there and giving someone carte blanch to access my passwords if they choose to do so. If a Western agency were to (say) steal my details and I find out, at least I could challenge that. I doubt I would get far in a Chinese court.

That isn't a racist thing, it's a practical thing. I would be just as cautious if I couldn't read menu items in Spanish, Urdu, Bengali, whatever. I'm someone who would rather pay £4 for an app than give it unfettered access to my emails, contacts, calendar, social sites, et

Over the last 4 or so years I have bought 2 THL phones both of which were excellent. My current phone is an Oppo which also excellent. I couldn't see the point of paying around $800.00 plus for a phone when I could get one for less than $300.00 that is more than adequate

what a horrible article. the author for some reason thinks that in the mobile phone industry there are only big giants and small companies only exist in china. what about new brands which are located all around the world and gets their product manufactured in china. should they seize operation?

if all phone are manufactured in china doesn't that make my next phone automatically Chinese? and if you meant phones by Chinese brands then what about small companies around the world. this article is piece of crap.

Maybe I didn't make my intentions clear, I apologize about that. There is a stigma attached to "Chinese phone", which targets any non-big brand. One good example of what you're talking about is Blu Mobiles, which makes wonderful phones but doesn't get that much love because people don't recognize the brand. I'm not saying "Buy specifically from a Chinese manufacturer" as much as "Don't just buy a big brand because it's a big brand." I hope that clears it up.

I'd recommend the OnePlus phones.
The Huawei phones in our family (Y300 for my wife and G6 for my son) are in a different price and spec bracket than the OnePlus.
Still good value for money, but if you have the extra cash, you should definitely go for the OnePlus.